1. Why are we relegated to a two-party system?
Political Parties
Why are we relegated to a two-party system?

2. Parties- Here & Abroad
Definition- a party is a group that seeks to ______ candidates to public office by supplying them with a _________ by which they are known to the electorate.
(AKA- party identification)
Parties are ________________ in the Constitution.

3. Arenas of politics in which political parties exist:
1) Label
2) Organization, _____________ and campaigning for candidates.
3) Set of leaders, organize and try to control the legislative and executive branches. (___________ institution)

4. What Parties Do for Democracy
Party Functions
Organize the Competition
Unify the Electorate
Inspire ______________________________
Translate Preferences into Policy
Provide Loyal Opposition
Organize Government
Help Govern
Act as __________________________
Nominate Candidates
Ensure Candidate__________________
Party Functions: Mobilizing support and building coalitions; Encouraging stability in the political system; Providing accountability for public policy; Running candidates for office; Providing a cue for voters; Formulating policy through a national party platform.
Organize the Competition: Parties exist primarily as an organizing mechanism to win elections and thus win control of government.
Unify the Electorate: Parties help unify the electorate and moderate conflict, at least within the party. Parties have a strong incentive to fight out their internal differences but come together to take on the opposition.
Organize the Government: Although political parties in the United States are not as cohesive as in some other democracies, they are important when it comes to organizing our state and national governments. Congress is organized along party lines.
The party that controls the White House, the governor’s mansion, or city hall gets patronage, which means it can select party members as public officials or judges.
Translate Preferences into Policy: American parties have had only limited success in setting the course of national policy, especially compared to countries with strong parties. The European model of party government, which has been called a responsible party system, assumes that parties discipline their members through their control over nominations and campaigns.
The American system is largely candidate-centered; politicians are nominated largely on the basis of their qualifications and personal appeal, not party loyalty.
Loyal Opposition: The party out of power closely monitors and comments on the actions of the party in power, providing accountability. When national security is at issue or the country is under attack, parties restrain their criticism.
There is usually a polite interval following an election—known as the honeymoon—after which the opposition party begins to criticize the party that controls the White House, especially when the opposition controls one or both houses of Congress.
The caucus played an important part in pre-Revolutionary politics and continued to be important in our early history as elected officials organized themselves into groups or parties and together selected candidates to run for higher office, including the presidency.
As early as the 1820s, however, critics were making charges of “secret deals.”
During the 1830s and 1840s, a system of party conventions was instituted to draw more voters and reduce the power of the bosses to pick party nominees.
States adopted the direct primary, in which people could vote for the party’s nominees for office.
Today, the direct primary is the typical method of picking party candidates.
In states with open primaries, any voter, regardless of party, can participate in the primary of whichever party he or she chooses. This kind of primary permits crossover voting—Republicans and Independents helping to determine who the Democratic nominee will be, and vice versa. Other states use closed primaries, in which only persons already registered in that party may participate. Some states, such as Washington and California, experimented with blanket primaries, in which all voters could vote for any candidate, regardless of party.
The Iowa presidential caucuses, in which a record-setting 347,000 Iowans participated in 2008 are highly publicized as the first important test of potential presidential nominees.

5. The Two-Party System Rarity among nations today.
Why does it exist in America?
1) Electoral system- ______________ system and plurality system limit the number of parties.
2) Opinions of voters- if one is failing we try the other for a little while
3) State laws make it very difficult for ______ parties to get on the ballot.

6. Party Systems Multiparty Coalition government is necessary
Minor parties have an incentive to persevere
Proportional representation
Governments tend toward ______________
Two party
Winner-takes-all system
“__________” syndrome discourages minor parties
Government tends toward stability
Policy change is _____________________
The U.S. is a two-party system; most other democracies have a multiparty system

7. Barriers to Minor-Party Success
Party Systems
Although the United States has many minor parties, only the two major parties have much of a chance to win elections.
Multiparty systems are almost always found in countries that have a ____________________________, in contrast to our presidential system.
Barriers to Minor-Party Success
Factors Behind the American Two-Party System: Two parties arose during the ratification of the Constitution, contributing to “it’s always been this way” mentality and the belief that Americans generally agree on key matters
Parliamentary systems usually have a head of state, often called the president, but they also have a head of the government, often called the prime minister or chancellor, who is the leader of one of the large parties in the legislature
In Germany, the president’s responsibilities are mostly ceremonial, and he or she is expected to function in a politically neutral way.
In democracies like Germany with multiparty systems, because no one party has a majority of the votes, coalition governments are necessary
The multiparty system favors the existence of minor parties by giving them incentives to persevere and disproportionate power if they will help form a government
In some multiparty parliamentary systems, parties run slates of candidates for legislative positions, and winners are determined by proportional representation, in which the parties receive a proportion of the legislators corresponding to their proportion of the vote. In our single-member district, winner-take-all system, only the candidate with the most votes in a district or state takes office
In multiparty systems, parties at the extremes are likely to have more influence than in our two-party system, and in nations with a multiparty system, legislatures more accurately reflect the full range of the views of the electorate.
In contrast, our two-party system tends to create centrist parties that appeal to moderate elements and suppress the views of extremists in the electorate.
Multiparty parliamentary systems often make governments unstable as coalitions form and collapse.
In contrast, two-party systems produce governments that tend to be stable and centrist, and as a result, policy changes occur incrementally.
History
_____________
Consensus

8. The Rise and Fall of Parties
Founding fathers disliked parties, viewing them as ____________ (especially George Washington).
Earliest parties were a mix of heterogeneous _____________ put together to try to win elections

9. 1st Battle Jefferson - Jeffersonian Republicans
Hamilton- _________________
They were loose associations (___________) of political notables.
Republicans dominated - Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe

10. The Political Machine
Definition- a party organization that recruits members via tangible ______________.
Prevalent in the US until early 1900s.
It has been curbed by ____________ reform, voter registration, and social services being taken over by the federal and state government.

11. Weakening of Political Parties
Federalism decentralizes power.
Parties organized at all levels and do not communicate well.
***ALL politics are _____________*****
Candidates are chosen through __________ not by party leaders.

12. Caucus v. Primary
A caucus is a much more involved ___________ than a primary.
Due to this, only the most dedicated partisans attend.
This leads to some of the most ideological candidates (____________) winning or doing very well in the caucus.

14. Today’s Party Structure
Parties are very similar on paper.
National convention has ultimate power. Meets every ____________ to nominate the presidential candidate.
National committee is composed of delegates from states; they manage the affairs between conventions.
National Chair _______________ daily work.

15. National Conventions
National committee sets the time and place and tells each state its # of ___________ and the ________ for their selection.
Democrats and Republicans have very _____________ ways of awarding delegates.

16. Delegate Distribution
Formulas are used by both parties to allocate their delegates to the national convention.
Republicans favor the ____________ system in most states.
This allows the process to come to a quicker conclusion.

17. SUPERDELEGATES!!!!
The Democratic party prefers to allocate their delegates via ______________ representation. (15% threshold)
Democrats also allow elected officials, party leaders and former officeholders to pledge their support as ___________________.

18. Are the Delegates Representative of the voter?
NO!!!!! Democratic delegates are much more _________ and Republican delegates are much more ___________ than your rank and file voter.
Yet, people that participate in caucuses and primaries are similar ___________ to those who participate in the general election.

19. Today’s convention
Today’s national convention is similar to a large __________ for the nominee. It is used to ratify the choices made by the voters during the primary season.
The party in power (executive branch) has their convention _______ the party seeking office holds their convention. Usually a week or two after.

20. State and Local Parties
There is no ____________ structure of political parties. Each level deals with its own issues. Ideas are not passed from national to state to local.
The only thing that flows from one level to another is ___________.

21. Types of Political Parties
Ideological- based on an agenda covering ________________. Very factionalized.
Sponsored parties- created by an organization. Not ______________ in US.

22. Concentrate on one single issue
Single Issue Parties
Concentrate on one single issue
Example: Prohibition Party in 1892

23. . Splinter Parties
One that splits from one of the major political parties
Examples: Tea Party or __________ Party

24. 3rd Parties Never gain enough _____________ an election.
Factional (______________) parties probably have the greatest influence on public policy.
The BIG TWO may pay a __________ if it fails to recognize the faction that has split from its party.

25. Marriage Proposal http://politicalhumor.about.com
The two major parties are not necessarily looking to absorb the third parties. Sometimes they can hurt more than help.

26. Independent Voters. http://3rdpartyblogger
Why might third parties be attractive to voters?